Lemon vows to be fit for Newcastle Diamonds

NEWCASTLE Diamonds’ Australian star Mark Lemon has vowed to be fit and ready for action when the new season starts in March, despite suffering a crushed vertebra as a result of a crash in the Australian Championship.

NEWCASTLE Diamonds’ Australian star Mark Lemon has vowed to be fit and ready for action when the new season starts in March, despite suffering a crushed vertebra as a result of a crash in the Australian Championship.

Lemon fell in his third ride during the 1st Round of the title race in Adelaide and was forced to withdraw from the rest of the meeting.

However, he was pleased to discover that X-rays revealed no broken bones, and with the second round taking place in Victoria the very next day, the Byker favourite decided to take part.

Another fall, in his first outing, did not deter the Aussie tough guy and he battled on to win a couple of races and finish sixth on the night with eight points.

But, during the days leading up to the third and final round in New South Wales, Lemon was in extreme discomfort and the painkilling tablets he was taking were having little or no effect.

So, another set of X-rays were taken and they showed Lemon had crushed the L1 vertebra, which has brought a premature end to the 36-year-old’s Australian season.

Lemon has been in touch with Newcastle co-promoter and team manager George English to say he will definitely be ready for the Sapphire Engineering Diamonds’ first match at Berwick on Saturday, March 20.

English said: “Mark is cheerful enough and says it’s a case of him resting for two or three weeks before starting physiotherapy. Typically, he said it’s a bit of a bind but it could have been a lot worse.”

The hugely popular Aussie transformed the Diamonds from a bottom of the table team into play-off contenders after joining them in July, and he is one of six riders who finished the season with Newcastle to return to the club for 2010.